The Emperor s New Clothes (2001)

June 14, 2002

FILM REVIEW; An Exiled Emperor Devises a New Strategy

By STEPHEN HOLDEN

Published: June 14, 2002

Movies, especially science fiction films, love to ask, what if? A favorite what-if imagines the sweet revenge of going back in time and reliving high school knowing what you know now. But when it comes to larger historical events, such speculations tend to seem frivolous and beside the point. What if, say, the Nazis had won World War II? Well, they didn't, thank heavens. So let's not waste any more time wondering.

''The Emperor's New Clothes,'' a tepid romantic comedy that opens today in Manhattan and Los Angeles, has the disadvantage of imagining a what-if that probably hasn't crossed many people's minds lately. It certainly hadn't crossed mine. What if Napoleon Bonaparte, in his exile on St. Helena, had arranged for a double to impersonate him so he could sneak back to France to reclaim his imperial status? The film, adapted from a novel by Simon Leys, stars Ian Holm in the dual roles of Napoleon and Eugene, the drunken, buffoonish deckhand and look-alike who becomes his stand-in.

Although there's plenty of opportunity for low comedy in the notion of an emperor and an oaf exchanging roles, ''The Emperor's New Clothes,'' much to its detriment, doesn't pursue them. The film, directed by Alan Taylor, would rather think of itself as a witty, high-toned costume comedy with a reassuring message. That message says all it takes to tame a megalomaniac's lust to conquer the world is the love of a good woman, or something like that.

In a sly, deadpan performance, Mr. Holm does his best to realize the movie's gentle comic vision. His Napoleon is a dark, glowering, slightly ridiculous figure puffed up with his own self-importance who finds having to pass as a commoner unbearably humiliating. One minute he is an exiled monarch still enjoying the perks of royalty in his island prison; the next he is being yelled at while swabbing the deck of a rickety cargo ship. There is something undeniably satisfying in the spectacle of a bullying autocrat addicted to the privileges of power who is caught in a situation in which he can't snap back that classic rejoinder, ''Do you know who I am?''

Eventually landing on European soil, Napoleon nurtures the fantasy that once he arrives in Paris and announces his return, France will rise up behind him. As he heads toward Paris, his carriage stops at battle sites where souvenirs are sold, and he has the odd experience of staying in a hotel that advertises itself as a place where the emperor once slept. Along the way, he tries to connect with his loyalist contacts in the army by reiterating a silly password.

But once in Paris, his contacts don't materialize. He is taken in by Pumpkin (Iben Hjejle), a beautiful but poor widow who runs a struggling fruit-and-vegetable business. In the movie's wittiest scene, he becomes a neighborhood hero by applying military strategy to the local produce vendors. With the authority of a general, he dispatches them through the streets of Paris like an invading army.

Napoleon's plans to reveal himself are stalled when his impersonator, who was supposed to reveal the truth, decides he would rather remain the emperor. But the scenes set on St. Helena are rushed and confusing, and the enormous comic potential of an oafish idiot impersonating an aristocrat remains sadly unrealized.

As the movie's production notes put it with deadly accuracy: ''Will Napoleon get his second chance or will his victory come when he discovers that his real identity is that of a man, like any other, looking for happiness and love?'' Once the movie focuses on that sudsy issue, it turns into bland, tasteful mush.

Directed by Alan Taylor; written by Kevin Molony, Mr. Taylor and Herbie Wave, based on the novel ''The Death of Napoleon'' by Simon Leys; director of photography, Alessio Gelsini Torresi; edited by Masahiro Hirakubo; music by Rachel Portman; production designer, Andrea Chrisanti; produced by Uberto Pasolini; released by Paramount Classics. Running time: 107 minutes. This film is rated PG.